Frost Bitten
by I can never tell
Summary: Nick is stabbed, captured and turned into hunting practice. Will his pack trade his life in exchange for a flash drive containing pack secrets? or leave him to die in the snow. They may not have a choice considering time is running out.


Disclaimer: I don't own them.

The sky was muffled and gray. The wind whipped snow across the land with deadly accuracy. Clay and Elena walked side by side, pushing through the wall of falling snow. Nick tracked behind them, "is it too late to change?" He asked, "my wolf would be a lot warmer than I am right now." He pulled up his collar. Clay turned his face back to look at him,

"You know we can't. We have to be human when we reach the mutts. We don't know what we're going to run into once we get there."

"Exactly why we should be wolves," Nick muttered, pushing through the deep snow. When they finally reached the wear house, they were all shivering. They slowly crept their way through the building.

"Anything?" Clay asked Elena. She was sniffing around the room.

"Their scent is still fresh, I don't think they got very far," she whispered back. Nick's teeth were chattering as he neared an old wooden table. On top of which he found what could only be described as torture devices. He grimaced lifting a long knife with a serrated edge.

"They meant to use these on someone," Nick said, looking back at Clay and Elena. There was a crash on the other side of the large room. Clay turned to Elena,

"I thought you said they weren't here."

"I didn't think they were, they must be masking their scent somehow." They turned in the direction of the noise. Clay ventured in front, walking silently over the concrete floor. From around the corner, three mutts jumped in front of them. They were armed with blades.

"Drop the knives, make this an even fight," Clay said lowering into a fighting stance.

"Who said we wanted this to be a fair fight," one of them sneered. They lunged, they were locked in battle. One managed a small nick to Elena's arm. She gasped, kicking her assailant away and into the wall. Nick looked over at her,

"You ok?" He asked.

"Yeah," she breathed, the mutt had regained his composure and lunged back at her. Nick was consumed in his own fight. He threw strong punches, catching the large, bald mutt in the head and gut. Nick stepped back, regaining his balance. The mutt smiled, his mouth dripping blood. He drew his dagger in front of him, there was a crack. Nick turned his head to see the mutt Clay had been fighting fall dead to the floor, neck broken. He turned and pulled the mutt Elena was fighting off her and threw him into the wall.

"We have what we came for," Clay shouted, holding up a flash drive. "Let's go."

"Let me just take care of this," Nick said, pulling the bald man into a choke hold. The man laughed, sputtering blood before plunging the blade into Nick's abdomen. He grunted dropping mutt, staggering a few steps before falling to the floor.

"Nick!" Clay called, running over to him. He turned him over and saw the blood seeping through Nick's shirt. Nick's eyes were open in slits and he was breathing hard. "Come on, we have to go," he said, pulling Nick to his feet. He swayed, gasping his head fell back on Clay's shoulder. Clay began dragging him toward the door. They escaped outside, the wind and snow had picked up even more. Elena gasped, seeing Nick limp on Clay's side.

"Clay, what…" She trailed off, looking at Nick's pained face.

"Take him," he grunted, handing Nick off to Elena. He pulled out his cell phone, "No signal." He took a minute to think, squinting off into the distance. "We can't stay here," he said, looking back at the warehouse. Elena looked at Nick's arm wrapped tightly around his middle. He was bracing on her quite heavily.

"How bad is it?" She asked him. He shook his head lightly,

"It's not bad." He stood a bit straighter, breath still coming in short gasps. "W-we have to get that back to the pack, yeah," he said out of breath. Clay had the flash drive in hand. He nodded, knowing they had no other option.

"It's only a few miles to the car," he said. "Keep pressure on that," he pointed to Nick's side. Nick nodded. They set into the storm. He was putting in a brave face, but Nick knew the wound was worse than he was letting on. He dragged his feet after Elena, the cold was numbing now. They had made it to the tree line when large vehicles pulled up behind them. Mutts jumped out of the trucks, snarling.

"Clay!" Elena said, glancing ferociously at their enemies. Elena dragged Nick over to the trees and set him down gently. He grunted in pain,

"Elena wait, no matter what that flash drive gets to the pack."

"We're not leaving you if that's what you're thinking," she said harshly.

"If it comes down to it, promise that you will do whatever it takes to keep it safe."

"Nick no!"

"Listen to me, the information on that drive will save all of you. I'm not worth jeopardizing it."

"Nick…"

"Elena I need you," Clay called.

"Promise me," Nick said weekly.

"Alright, I promise," Elena said regrettably. She ran to join the fight. Nick's head was spinning, he could feel blood seeping out of him like a life force. Suddenly rough hands grabbed him, he fought nimbly but was dragged along the snow. He felt himself being thrown into the back of the truck. The mutt yelled to his partners,

"Let's go!" They filed quickly into the trucks and took off. Clay growled after them. He and Elena turned back to the woods, she ran to where she left Nick. She was shocked to find he was gone. A trail of blood led to tire tracks.

"Clay they took him," she said. She whipped her head to catch a glance at the trucks disappearing in the distance.

"We'll go after them," Clay said strongly.

"No we have to get back to the pack, Clay he made me promise," Elena said, looking at Clay painfully. His jaw was locked,

"The second we deliver this, we're going after him." Elena nodded, and they set off in the direction of the car.

Nick's eyes drifted open, around him he caught the voices of the mutts that attacked them. "What are we going to tell the boss? Huh? Sorry, we didn't get you your drive, here's a half dead wolf instead?"

"No," the other voice said annoyed. "We propose a trade, his life for the drive." Nick seemed to come to his senses, he shot awake, looking around wildly. He was bound, hand behind his back. He fought at the restraints. There was tape over his mouth.

"Easy there Wolfie, wouldn't want to have to cause any more damage." Nick looked at them murderously. He pulled against the ties on his wrists, he could feel them start to break when he was elbowed in the head.

"What did I just say?" The mutt growled. He dug his fingers into Nick's stab wound, he screamed through the tape. He pushed himself as far away as possible. He was breathing deeply through his nose groaning. He shook trying to get his hands off of him.

"Stop messing around and shut him up," the driver commanded. The mutt stopped digging on Nick's wound and instead smacked his head forcefully against the side of the car. Everything went dark.

Clay and Elena pulled up to StoneHaven they ran inside,

"Jeremy!" Clay called. Jeremy appeared around the corner.

"Did you get the drive?" He asked. Clay dropped the small, silver flash drive on the table. Jeremy picked it up, turning it in his hands. "Where's Nick?"

"He was injured, they took him," Elena said. Jeremy's eyes widened. "He made us get the drive to you first before we went after him." Jeremy processed her words,

"Then we will save him, together."

"If he's even still alive," Clay muttered. Elena shot him an angry glare.

"Any idea where they went?" Jeremy asked. Elena shook her head,

"Their tracks lead north, that's all I know."

"Get something dry on, and something to eat. Once you get your strength up we'll set off north. I'll get a hold of Logan, someone will have to stay and guard the drive." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and disappeared into the other room.

Elena stood frozen, Clay pulled his arms around her. He leaned close to her neck,

"Don't worry darlin', Nick's going to be fine." She turned to look at him, her eyes flickering over his features.

"We have to find him first." Clay pulled her close to him, he could feel her cold frame pressing against him.

"Let's get warm like Jeremy said, we can't help him until we've helped ourselves." He led her up the stairs. They came back down changed, their skin had taken a warmer color. Jeremy was packing a bag with a few medical supplies. Elena's phone buzzed in her pocket, she pulled it out, inspected the number and answered. Her eyes widened at the caller. She quickly put it on speaker.

"Hello Elena, it seems you have something of ours. On your quick escape, you seem to have forgotten something, or someone…" He trailed off. The sound of Nick screaming filled the line. Elena put a hand to her mouth, "like I was saying, if you want to see Nick again alive, you have until the end of the day to return the flash drive to me. If you fail, I'm sure Nick would be wonderful hunting practice for our newly changed."

"Where do we meet you?" Elena asked quickly.

"That warehouse where you killed my best men, I'll be expecting you. You have until the sun goes down." The line went dead. Elena looked out the window,

"We have to hurry, there're only two hours left until sundown." She rushed to grab her coat.

"Elena wait," Jeremy said. "We can't rush into this."

"You heard what he said!" She said angrily. "Santos is going to let them tear him apart if we don't give him what he wants."

"Elena," Clay began, "Nick made you promise to deliver the flash drive at all costs. Do you really think he would want you to trade him for it?"

"Clays right. We can't give them the flash drive," Jeremy said.

"Them we ambush them, get to Nick before they can give the order to have him killed," Elena said.

"We can't alone, Logan will be here in less than an hour, we will go then." Jeremy continued packing the bag with bandages.

Nick was shivering, they had him chained, hanging from the ceiling.

"Already an hour down and no sign of your rescue team." Santos trailed a blade over Nick's bare chest, lightly breaking the skin. Nick winced. From the cage on the other side of the room, a wolf jumped at the bars. "Listen to that, he can already smell your blood," Santos smiled. "It's only a matter of time now." Nick hung his head, the lack of blood was dizzying. Logan entered Stonehaven. Clay, Jeremy, and Elena pushed past him to the car,

"There's been a change of plans," Jeremy informed him. "He has to go now." The snow made the drive twice as long,

"We're down to a half hour," Clay said concerned, looking at the sky. Before they had reached the wear house, a car was parked blocking the road. Santos stood next to it. They stopped the car and filed out.

"Cutting it a bit close aren't we," Santos asked eying his watch.

"Where's Nick?" Jeremy demanded.

"The flash drive first."

"Or we could just kill you," Logan snarled.

"If that's how you want this to go, then fine." Mutts appeared from either side of the road, pouring out of the tree line. They were locked in battle. The pack had the upper hand but they were wasting time. Santos got in his car speeding away from the conflict.

Nick was awoken to the sound of the wolf throwing himself against the cage. Santos appeared in front of him, "At least now you know where your pack's priorities lay." He took a syringe out, "don't want you changing during the hunt." He plunged the needle into Nick's neck. Sticking his fingers in Nick's stomach wound he smeared blood over his bare chest. Nick groaned, muscles contracting. Santos ripped him down, off the chains. He dragged him outside the small shed, "you have a two-minute head start," he snarled, voice shaking with anger, "I would start running."

Once the mutts were dead the pack regrouped, Elena was electric. "We're out of time," she snapped.

"We still might be able to save him," Jeremy said. "Elena you are the best tracker we have. Santos headed in that direction," he pointed up the road. "Nick is strong and smart. He will give us time. If we hurry we can still find him before the mutt does."

Elena nodded, "let's go."

Nick felt like his heart was going to explode, he ran with everything he had, the cold against his bare chest made his lungs contract painfully. In the distance, he could hear a wolf snarling. He continued on, running through the trees he smearing blood on trees as he passed them, spreading his scent. If he couldn't hide his scent, he would make it overwhelming. His knees went weak, he fell against a tree in agony. He couldn't catch his breath. He could hear the wolf approaching, with the last bit of strength he had he took off.

Elena caught Nick's scent almost immediately. She led them to the tree line, "smart," she muttered, seeing the smear of blood on the trunk of a tree. "But it's not going to make it easier to find him, split up."

Nick could hear the wolf on his heels. He felt its hot breath on his back, it pounced. Nick collapsed on the ground, the wolf sunk its teeth into Nick's shoulder, shredding the flesh. He screamed, in the distance, Clay heard his cry. Nick twisted his body he kicked at the beast. It flew back and hit a tree, it was stunned for a fraction of a second. Nick tried to get to his feet, but he couldn't move. On his knees, he looked the wolf in the eyes. He could almost feel death consuming him. Using nearby branches he pulled himself to his feet. His body swayed, and his vision was clouded. He could feel panic collapsing in on him. The wolf lunged again, Nick closed his eyes and prepared himself for death.

Before the wolf could sink it's teeth into Nick's throat, it was intercepted. Clay full of anger knocked the wolf with all of his strength. It wolf collided with a tree and fell limp to the ground. Nick opened his eyes, gasping for air, his lungs were shutting down in the ice cold. He backed away, folding in on himself. "Nick," Clay began, redirecting his attention.

"No!" Nick yelled, trying to get away.

"Nick it's alright you're safe," he stepped closer. The rest of the pack heard the yelling and joined them.

"It's me, Nick! Clay! Look at me," Clay commanded trying to get Nick's attention. All Nick could feel was panic, all he could see was the wolf lunging. Clays pleas were muffled, a whisper in the howling wind. Nick's heart was pounding, he grasped his chest, pushing himself away from Clay and the rest of his pack.

"Nick," Jeremy swiftly grabbed the arm of the distressed man. Nick cried out, fighting against his alphas grasp.

"No, No!" He cried through clenched teeth. Jeremy put his hands on either side of Nick's face,

"Look at me Nicholas!" Slowly Nick's eyes trailed over Jeremy, finally seeing he was there. His panic subsided,

"Jeremy," he wheezed. His eyes trailed over his pack,

"You're safe now," Jeremy said. Nick's legs trembled, the adrenaline rush disappearing, he groaned falling forward onto his knees, Jeremy caught him. "Shhhhh it's ok," he soothed him. Nick's lips and skin were blue, his wounds bleeding freely. Jeremy pulled Nick's arm over his shoulder, Elena supported his other side, being careful of his torn shoulder. His head lulled into Jeremy's shoulder, his eyes rolling back. Logan took off his coat and draped it over Nick's bare shoulders. Together they dragged the limp body out of the woods. 


End file.
